Khima

In the Tractate Brakhot of the Babylonian Talmud
it is said that the Deluge was caused by two stars that fell from Khima
toward the earth. The statement reads:

When the Holy One . . . wanted to bring a flood upon
the world, He took two stars from Khima and brought a flood
upon the world.(1)

I have already mentioned that Rashi, the medieval exegete
whose authority is unsurpassed among the rabbis, says that in the quoted
sentence Khima means a star with a tail, or a comet. This explanation
found its way into the works of several gentile theologians.(2)
Should it be understood so that two large meteorites fell from a comet
and falling on Earth caused tidal waves? Instances when meteorites fell
while a comet was glowing in the sky are known, and the classic case is
found in Aristotle.(3)
Should a meteorite equal in mass to the one which by its impact formed
the Arizona crater fall into the ocean, tidal waves of a wide spread would
result, possibly circling the globe. Then are we to understand the Deluge
as a huge tidal wave rushing across the continents? This picture differs
widely from the story in Genesis, according to which water was falling
for a long period from the sky and the waters of the depths rose, covering
the surface of the earth.

The Tractate Brakhot so explicitly points to the cause
of the Deluge that before classifying the narrative in Genesis in its
entirety as folkloristic imagery (which in part it most certainly is),
and also before following Rashis idea any further, we ought to inquire:
Which celestial body is Khima? Is it correctly explained as a comet?

In the Old Testament Khima is mentioned in several instances.
In Job, Chapter 9, the Lord is He who removes the mountains . .
. and overturns them . . . and shakes the earth out of her place . . .
which commands the sun and it rises not . . . which alone spreads the
heaven . . . which makes Aish and Kesil, and Khima, and the chambers of
the south . . . . In the King James Version these names are translated
as Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades. Chambers of the South are usually explained
as constellations of the south.

Khima and Kesil are also named in Job, chapter 38, here
again in a text that deals with the violent acts to which the Earth was
once subjected: . . . Who shut up the sea with doors [barriers],
when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? . . . [Who]
might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken
out of it? . . . The Lord asks Job: Canst thou bind the chains
[fetters] of Khima and loosen the reins of Kesil? Canst thou lead forth
the Mazzaroth in its season? . . . Davidson and Lanchester wonder
at the meaning of this passage: like the King James Version they translate
Pleiades for Khima and Orion for Kesil.(4)
Mazzaroth is left untranslated.

In Amos, chapter 5, once more, Khima and Kesil are mentioned
in a verse that reveals the great acts of the Lord who makes Khima
and Kesil, and turns the shadow of death into morning, and makes the day
dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them
upon the face of the earth. . . .

Hieronymus, also known as St. Jerome, the fourth century
author of the Vulgate, the Latin version of the Old Testament,
translates Khima as Arcturus in one instance (Amos 5), as Pleiades in
another (Job 38), and as Hyades in the third (Job 9):

Similarly Kesil was translated by the Septuagint,
the Greek version of the Old Testament that dates back to third century
before the present era, as Hesperus, or the Evening Star, and in another
instance as Orion. Aish, translated as Arcturus in the Vulgate, is rendered
as Pleiades by the Septuagint:

Obviously the true meaning of these names was lost,
because one and the same authority in various instances used different
star constellations or planets for each of them: Kesil, Khima, Mazzaroth,
Aish. Later interpreters groped in the dark; so Calmet, the eminent French
commentator and exegete of the early eighteenth century translated Khima
as Great Bear.(5) Others
rendered it as Sirius (Canis Major).

The interpreters were especially intrigued by the description
in Job 38. The Lord asks Job whether he can bind the chains of Khima or
loosen the reins of Kesil. The word in the second clause is from
a root always meaning to draw . . . (6)
Which star is in chains? And which star is drawn by reins, as if by horses?

The identities of Khima and Kesil, Aish and Mazzaroth,
were of lesser importance when it amounted to finding their meaning for
their own sake in the poetical sentences of Amos and Job. But such identification,
especially of Khima, grows in importance if the quoted sentence from the
Tractate Brakhot may contribute to an understanding of the etiology of
the Deluge, as the ancients knew or thought to know it.

In Worlds in Collision I have already explained
that Mazzaroth signifies the Morning (Evening) star; the Vulgate has Lucifer
for Mazzaroth and the Septuagint reads: Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth
in his season and guide the Evening Star by his long hair? I have
already shown why the Morning-Evening star was described as having hair
or coma, and why Venus did not appear in its seasons.

Apparently the other members of the group were planets,
too. And actually we could have started by the disclosure that in the
rabbinical literature Khima is referred to as Mazal Khima.(7)
In Hebrew mazal means planet. Then which planet is
Khima? If we can find out which of the planets is Khima, then we may know
also to which planet the Talmud assigned the physical cause of the world
inundation. As we have seen, the Biblical texts by themselves do not contain
the means to determine which of the planets Khima and Kesil are.

Were it not for the heat of Kesil the world could
not endure the cold of Khima; and were it not for the cold of Khima, the
world could not endure the heat of Kesil. This sentence is found,
too, in the Babylonian Talmud, in the Tractate Brakhot.(8)

Kesil means in Hebrew fool. From the biblical
texts it is not apparent why one of the planets received this adverse
name, or, why, more probably, the word fool was derived from
the name of the planet.(9)

In the Iliad Ares-Mars is called fool.
Pallas Athena said to him: Fool, not even yet hast thou learned
how much mightier than thou I avow me to be, that thou matchest thy strength
with mine. (10) These words explain
also why Mars was called fool: it clashed repeatedly with the planet-comet
Venus, much more massive and stronger than itself. To the peoples of the
world this prolonged combat must have appeared either as a very valiant
action on the part of Mars, not resting but coming up again and again
to attack the stupendous Venus, or it must have appeared as a foolish
action of going again and again against the stronger planet. Homer described
the celestial battles as actions of foolishness on the part of Mars. Thus
Kesil, or fool, among the planets named in the Old Testament,
is most probably Mars.

In Pliny we find a sentence which reads: The star
Mars has a fiery glow . . . owing to its excessive heat and Saturns
frost, Jupiter being situated between them combines the influence of each
and renders it healthy. (11) The
heating effect ascribed in the Talmud to Kesil is ascribed by Pliny to
Mars, and the cooling effect of Khima to Saturn. By this sentence of Pliny
we are strengthened in our identification of Kesil as the planet Mars;
it corroborates the conclusion we just made with the help of the Iliad.
But what is even more important, Pliny helps to identify the planet
Khima : it is Saturn.

Cicero also wrote that Saturn has a cooling influence,
whereas Mars imparts heat. (12)
Porphyry, an author of the third century, wrote similarly with Pliny and
Cicero: The power of Kronos [Saturn] they perceive to be sluggish
and slow and cold. The power of Ares [Mars] they perceive to be fiery.
(13)

Porphyrys contemporary Plotinus wrote: When
the cold planet [Saturn] is in opposition to the warm planet [Mars], both
become harmful. (14) Other statements
to the same effect are found in Vitruvius,(15)
and Proclus.(16) In
these sentences, as in those of Pliny and of the Talmud, Mars is regarded
as being a fiery planet,(17)
Saturn as being a cold planet.(18)

The passage in the Book of Job (38:31) can now be read:
Canst thou bind the bonds of Saturn and loosen the reins of Mars?
The bonds of Saturn can be seen even today with a small telescope. The
reins of Kesil I discussed in Worlds in Collision, section The
Steeds of Mars. The two small moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos,
were known to Homer(19)
and are mentioned by Vergil.(20)
They were regarded by the peoples of antiquity as steeds yoked to Mars
chariot.

The passage in the Talmud that makes the planet Khima
responsible for the Deluge means: Two stars erupted from the planet
Saturn and caused the Deluge.

Proclus
Diadochus, In Timaeo Vol. IV, p. 92: The Stars
iii.1.: Saturn and Mars are the extremes and in opposition to
one another . . . one being the principle of cooling, the other of
heating . . . Jupiter holds the center and brings to a happy mix the
creative activities of the other two. [Cf.
also Proclus summary of the system of Philolaos in his In
Euclide I. 402. 21: Cronos in fact sustains all humid and
cold substances, and Ares all the nature of fire. ]

The other
name for Mars in rabbinical HebrewMaadimsignifies red
or reddening. Mars has a reddish color.